


Favors

by scy



Category: The Vampire Diaries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-25
Updated: 2010-09-25
Packaged: 2017-10-12 16:17:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/126749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scy/pseuds/scy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's all about talking to the right people</p>
            </blockquote>





	Favors

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [](http://seperis.dreamwidth.org/profile)[](http://seperis.dreamwidth.org/)**seperis** for reading this through and prodding when necessary.

  
Jeremy wasn't comfortable breaking into the Salvatore boardinghouse, but then they didn't lock the door too often, and so Damon didn't look surprised to see him when he walked in. Jeremy did a double take when he saw who walked in behind him.

"Hey," Mr. Saltzman said, and Jeremy grinned.

"Hi, what are you up to?"

"We had to run an errand for Elena," Damon said, and got a look.

Mr. Salztman, no, Jeremy corrected himself, Alaric motioned at Jeremy. "Did you invite him over?"

"What does it matter to you? Boy's been here before, trying out the same move you did that one time, with a little twist." Damon picked up a glass and pointed at the bourbon. "Added anything to this?"

"Not tonight," Jeremy said, and now Alaric was giving him the same hard stare. "You didn't say I couldn't come over."

"No, I didn't say anything about you coming over," Damon said.

"Are you planning to try and kill him again?" Alaric asked.

"What, just to blow off some steam?" Damon drank the entire glass in one gulp, and Jeremy's eyes widened. Damon put down the glass and cleared his throat. "No, I've got you for that."

Alaric didn't seem to care, and sat down on the couch,and Damon braced one arm on the table watching him before he poured a second drink and then another for Alaric, and brought it over to him. "I'm not going to fight you, Damon, not when you're bored."

"Then you've completely gotten over how I drank your wife's blood down to the very last drop?" Damon licked his lips, and for a second Alaric looked like he really was going to try and hurt Damon, but he took a drink instead, and sat stiffly when Damon sat down beside him.

One of the weirdest thing about hanging around adults, or vampires was that when they got used to you being there, they started letting things slip."You killed his wife?" Jeremy glanced from Damon to Alaric, and knew he was gaping just a little bit. "Why didn't you kill him?"

"I tried," Alaric said, and glared at Damon. "It didn't take."

"I returned the favor and it didn't stick with you either," Damon said, and kicked Alaric's ankle.

"Because I have a ring."

"Yeah, and that didn't protect Jonathan Gilbert," Damon said.

Jeremy flinched, and Alaric cleared his throat.

Damon raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Try to be sensitive, Damon."

"About a man who wanted to kill me, and killed his girlfriend?" Damon nodded at Jeremy. "He tried to burn me alive, Ric, I don't have much sympathy for the man."

"Do you have any for anybody?" Jeremy asked, and stayed very still when Damon turned to look at him. It was freaky the way Damon didn't move anything except his eyes, his body completely still. Jeremy had seen way too many movies about vampires, and none of them, except the old ones had looked at people like that. It was as if they were saying they didn't have to get into a fight, they just had to wait for somebody to do something really dumb, and then they would get what they wanted.

"Sympathy is a waste of time," Damon said.

"So are all feelings, we know, you've got a lot of wisdom, feel free to keep it to yourself," Alaric said, and Jeremy's eyes widened. He'd mouthed off to Damon a few times, once he figured out that he wasn't Stefan's cool older brother, but the last time he'd done that, Damon had put him in a choke hold and taken his ring away from him. When Alaric did it, Damon smirked, and kicked him again. "Stop that." Alaric smacked Damon's leg and looked annoyed.

"But you like it when I share, Ric," Damon said, and leaned over, elbow resting almost on Alaric's chest.

Alaric blushed. "Not now, Damon."

Damon grinned. "Later then." He turned away and stared at Jeremy.

"What?" Nobody looked at you like that, at least, not normal people, and Damon wasn't either of those things, so it made sense, but Jeremy still wished he'd stop. "That's creepy, blink, will you?"

"You're not actually a snake," Alaric said, and sighed when Damon kept his eyes on Jeremy. "What are you trying to do?"

"It's an object lesson, you'll get it in a minute," Damon said, and Jeremy finally had to look away, breathing fast and his skin prickling.

"There." Damon looked pleased with himself and slid down on the couch as he put his feet up on the table. "Much better."

"What does that prove?"

"That you're not the one in charge."

Jeremy folded his arms across his chest, and hated that Damon snorted like he'd been expecting him to do that very thing. "As if that's news."

"Do you ever get tired of being an obnoxious s.o.b.?" Alaric asked, and Jeremy let out a startled laugh, and then choked it back because he wasn't sure anybody should be saying stuff like that to Damon unless they didn't care what he might do to them.

"Never," Damon said, and rested his head against the back of the couch as if Alaric had said something nice to him.

"Aunt Jenna told me to tell you that she'd like to talk with you," Jeremy said, and Alaric winced. "I thought you two liked each other." Jeremy wasn't trying to fix anybody up, he was a bad enough judge of what he should be doing, and he was trying to work on a better plan. Messing around with other people's love lives might be fun for awhile, but not when he didn't want anybody to get hurt.

"I'm not coming over to see Jenna tonight," Alaric said, not looking at Damon, which was weird, because Damon was giving him a really intense sideways look.

"What about Jenna?" Jeremy asked. "She likes you."

"I like her too," Alaric said, and shifted uncomfortably. "Jeremy, you have to understand that when adults like each other, it's not always that simple."

Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's not that easy for kids either. You're not really old, don't you remember that much?"

Alaric stared at Jeremy, and Damon tipped his head back and laughed. "Like you're one to talk."

"I know, I'm the dangerous older man." Damon shrugged. "I'm comfortable with it."

"You're a hundred and some years older than him," Jeremy said, suddenly catching on to the fact that Alaric wasn't punching Damon, like he deserved sometimes, and that Damon had put his feet on Alaric's leg and hadn't been pushed away.

"Your point being?" Damon asked, and reached over to tug at Alaric's collar. "Is this from Eddie Bauer?"

Alaric ducked away from Damon's fingers. "I told you I wasn't going to let you dress me."

"I get to undress you a lot, that helps me cope," Damon said.

"Wow," Jeremy said, and Alaric was really blushing now. "I thought you were just messing with me, but you two are actually-" he waved a hand.

"Actually what?" Alaric asked, and Damon seemed curious too.

"Please, what modern euphemism are you going to throw out?"

"Sleeping together," Jeremy said, because it was the first thing that he could think of with more than four letters.

"I don't think we've ever slept together," Damon said thoughtfully, which was a frightening look on him.

Alaric seemed to think so too. "Technically, speaking."

"Since when have you ever gotten any shuteye when I'm in bed with you?" Damon asked.

"I passed out once," Alaric said.

"That doesn't count," Damon said and regarded Jeremy like he expected something. Jeremy shifted uneasily. He had thought Damon was an alright guy before he found out about him being a vampire, and now he wasn't sure what to do about the fact that it might still be true, some of the time.

"Damon, shouldn't you be out hunting werewolves or, I don't know, vampires?" Alaric asked, and Jeremy perked up.

"Are you hunting werewolves?"

"I might be." Damon was still eying Jeremy in that freaky way he had. "It's a good way to kill time."

"Not to mention other things," Alaric said, not quietly, and Damon dug his heel into Alaric's leg. "Ow, stop that."

Damon didn't move his foot, and Alaric jabbed him in the ankle with something that made him hiss and kick a last time and then he moved away. "I haven't killed anyone in weeks."

"I know it's a strain, but remember, you're trying to set a good example," Alaric said, and motioned at Jeremy.

"Because of me? I don't care if you kill vampires."

"Your sister would mind if you got hurt," Alaric said.

"She doesn't have to know," Jeremy said.

"You think that she won't find out?" Damon asked.

"I wouldn't tell her."

"She's your sister, she'd find out."

"Is that an older sibling thing or part of being a vampire?" Alaric asked.

"A little of both," Damon said. He was still looking at Jeremy like he was thinking things over, and Jeremy sat up a little straighter without meaning too. He saw Alaric notice, and blushed.

"Come on, I just want to see what you guys are doing."

"Where?" Damon asked, and leaned forward. "Because that covers a lot of territory." He grinned, and Jeremy thought he'd seen the expression before, but only when it was being aimed at somebody Damon wanted to get the better of.

"Hunting, I mean, when you're trying to stake vampires and stuff."

"Sure," Damon said, and wiggled his eyebrows. "We can teach you all sorts of things."

"Damon," Alaric said sharply.

"I know, you don't want the youth corrupted by the forces of evil."

"Or one specific force."

"I use vervain," Jeremy said. They had been making progress until the two of them started arguing, and he didn't think that they would stop anytime soon unless he spoke up.

"I'm thrilled for you," Damon said.

Jeremy could tell that hadn't convinced Alaric. "I have a ring too, that helps, right?"

"Unless it gets taken off, or you get hurt by something that's not supernatural," Alaric said. "It can't always protect you."

"Believe me, I've got that," Jeremy said, and made sure he wasn't looking at Damon.  
"What are you trying to prove, Jeremy?" Alaric asked. "This isn't something you have to do."

"Yes, I do. Most of the people around here don't believe in vampires, because they wouldn't want to listen, or people are trying to protect them."

Alaric shook his "Trying to keep the people you love safe isn't the worst thing in the world." He frowned. "But if this is about glory or something like that, forget about it."

"Yeah, you won't find any of it here," Damon said.

"I wasn't looking for that," Jeremy said. "All I want is to know what it takes so I can help."

Damon nodded once. "If Elena asks, this was your idea."

"It is."

"Yeah, but she's going to think I compelled you to hang out with us and be an annoying distraction and potentially put yourself in mortal danger on a regular basis."

Jeremy grinned. "Really?"

"Not all of the time," Alaric said. "There's a lot of research you have to do before you can go out and hunt anything like vampires."

"But you did all of that."

"Yes, I did." Alaric wasn't happy about admitting it, but Jeremy didn't care, he'd gotten this far by not letting go of things, and this was important.

"If you don't show me what to do, I'll find out what I can and do it anyway."

"Juvenile threats are so unattractive," Damon said.

"As an expert, thanks for your input," Alaric said. "You want to add anything?"

"Yeah, I'm driving." Damon grinned and held up one hand, a key ring dangling from his fingers.

"Not my car, you aren't," Alaric said and made a grab for the keys, but Damon hopped off the couch and headed for the door. He glanced over his shoulder at Jeremy. "Still interested?"

"This is a bad idea, Damon," Alaric said, but he went after Damon without doing more than rolling his eyes.

"Maybe, but it'll be fun," Damon said, and Jeremy laughed, because that was what he'd been after and it looked like he'd gotten it.


End file.
